Try It Yourself

 by Jami Morain

    Part of why I am pursuing music journalism is to help people learn about their favorite musicians. I decided to create a blog post of "rockumentaries" to hopes of sparking an inspiration for someone to go learn something new.

Documentaries

Eight Days a Week

    A combination of footage from The Beatles touring, their music and interviews from 1963-1966. This documentary is one of my all-time favorites. I have watched it repeatedly, because of how great it is. It captures their personalities so well with their cheeky remarks and it really shows what it was like when they were taking the world by storm, but also how they fell apart and were forced to quit touring. With every re-watch I see those girls passing out at concerts or screaming their heads off and it leaves me in awe. My generation has never had music so popular, new and loved. This documentary puts the viewer in the proper headspace to know what it was like during Beatlemania, if they were so very unfortunate to miss it. Streaming on Hulu.

Foo Fighters: Back and Forth

    Ever wonder how Nirvana's drummer stepped out from behind his kit and became the front-man of his own band? Foo Fighters: Back and Forth tells the story of how the Foo Fighters started, not just Dave Grohl's story, but also how each individual member became a part of this legendary band. The original drummer, William Goldsmith, and short-lived lead guitarist Franz Stahl, also have a chance to tell their stories- which I didn't expect considering Goldsmith left on bad terms. Disclaimer and possible spoiler: I do feel like the trailer is heavily dramatized on the section of "the end of the Foo Fighters" because they never officially broke up, they just had a big fight when Grohl left to drum for Queens of the Stone Age. It also covers the makings of their albums, career highlights such as the Wembley performance, then wraps up with the process of creating 2011's Wasting Light in Grohl's home. This is an absolute must watch for Foo fans; the entire time I watched it, I just kept wishing it would never end. Rent or purchase on YouTube or Apple TV.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Damn the Torpedoes (Classic Albums)

Note: This isn't really a trailer, its more of a snippet

    This 2002 documentary covers how Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers created their third and break-through album, Damn the Torpedoes, in 1979. Includes interviews from the Heartbreakers, producers and Petty. During this time, the band felt they had been wronged when a company bought out their label, meaning bought them as well, and Petty refused to be "sold like a piece of meat," so he fought back. Everyone involved knew the album would be a success, but Petty would have shelfed it before letting the new company win. He went as far as going bankrupt to be freed from his contract. "Century City" was actually written because their lawyers were in Century City and they spent so much time there. I will stop now before I give away the entire plot, but it is a must watch for everyone. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are rock legends who wrote personal, authentic music and fought for their audiences. Streaming for free on Amazon Prime.

Note: Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers is also free and streaming on Prime. Never seen before footage of Petty working on his second solo album.

George Harrison: Living in the Material World

    In 2011, director Martin Scorsese told George Harrison's story, from joining the Quarrymen (later renamed The Beatles) at just 14 to his spiritual journey in Hinduism to his death in 2001. This documentary makes me feel so happy because Harrison is my favorite Beatle. I don't think people understand the weight of being in the greatest rock and roll band of all time at 17. Can you imagine? However, The Beatles weren't going to last forever and they didn't so what did Harrison do next? "The Quiet Beatle" made the best selling solo album out of the ex-Beatles. Then he made a few more albums, went on a spiritual journey, accidentally started the supergroup that was the Traveling Wilburys in 1988 and became a dad. His story deserves to be shared and heard after all, some of your favorite Beatles' songs might be written by George Harrison. Streaming on MAX and Apple TV.

Documentary I would NEVER recommend

Cobain: Montage of Heck

    Truly the worst documentary I have ever watched, if it can be called a documentary. It has no flow, no storyline and no consistency. I don't think I even learned anything from this. When I watched it with my parents, they both wanted to turn it off and complained about how horrible it was. I don't know how we possibly made it to the end. At times it would just show animated drawings of Kurt Cobain's journal, but never once explained the relevance. "Montage of Heck" is an incredibly accurate description. 

Documentary I haven't personally watched

Taylor Swift's Eras Tour concert footage was just released onto Disney+ today. Swift announced she wanted it to feel like viewers were actually there.

Movies

The Dirt

    This movie is used to tell how Motley Crue formed then rose to fame in the '80s. It is definitely not for children as it has quite a bit of sex and drugs throughout the film. Viewers also have the pleasure of watching Ozzy Osbourne's character snort a line of ants from the sidewalk. Through the clichés of sex, drugs and rock n roll, the audience sees Nikki Sixx's almost overdose, Vince Neil's grief of his daughter's death and Mick Mars' spine ailment. Streaming on Netflix.

Bohemian Rhapsody

    An amazing film on Queen and Freddie Mercury. I have seen this multiple times and I will always love it. Rami Maleek completely transforms into Mercury with such ease. This movie made Brian May my favorite guitarist when they show him playing the title track with "more soul" he then puts his entire body into it. Bohemian Rhapsody shows the band made Night at the Opera, how it was originally rejected and more funny stuff between the band. However, it shows Mercury falling in love with Mary Austin, them getting married, them splitting apart, Mercury accepting he is gay, his fight with AIDs and their Live Aid performance, which did have me crying in the theater. Unfortunately because it's a movie, it needs to be dramatized, meaning not everything shown is accurate. While watching movies, its important to fact check it afterward. Can be rented or bought from a variety of streaming services such as Prime, YouTube or Apple TV.

Rocketman

    Taron Egerton cast as Elton John felt full circle after his portrayal of Johnny the gorilla in SING performed "I'm Still Standing" and they co-starred together in Kingsman: The Golden Circle. Actually, that is how John and Egerton met. This film came out in the summer of 2019, I was so beyond excited to see it. I streamed John's music for an entire day before we went just to be in the right headspace. However, I actually left the theater feeling severely disappointed, but after reading John's autobiography and a re-watch of the movie, I changed my mind. I now own it on DVD and watch it yearly. Egerton actually sings the songs, they aren't lip-synced and he sounds incredible, the costumes are outstanding and the story is heartbreaking. The audience watches as Elton John's life falls apart and his drug addiction slowly becomes worse. Luckily everyone knows that Elton John is "still standing" and doing well. Him and Egerton are still great friends. Rent or buy on Prime or YouTube.

    Thank you for scrolling through this post. Hopefully you were able to pick at least one of the options and, at the very least, watch a trailer. There are so many music documentaries of a variety of genres and artist to choose from, if none of those work for you. Who knows what you will pick up on.